For the past several decades, church attendance has become an increasingly female-oriented activity. Church leaders have either given into that fact and no longer try to find a way to get men back to church, or they have spent untold amounts of money on focus groups to find out why men no longer attend, or how they can lure back those men who have strayed.

But now, the tide has seemingly turned, according to a new report from the Barna Group, with more men attending church, while the number of women attending is in decline. Barna found that more men (43%) than women (36%) report attending church on a weekly basis.

Barna writes, “For decades, women have outnumbered men in church attendance and have often led the way in spiritual participation. But a significant shift is occurring in American Christianity that demands attention: Women—particularly younger women—are attending church less frequently than men. This reversal isn’t just a numerical milestone; it signals a broader cultural and spiritual turning point.”

While the decline in female attendance—especially among younger women—is a concern which I will address, the rise in male attendance and leadership in church attendance and spiritual leadership is something to celebrate.

Why? Because as the Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5, a man is called to be the spiritual leader of his wife and children. When men abdicate that role, which so many have done over the past 60 or so years, families deteriorate, and children wander away from the faith.

And what is especially encouraging is that the growth in male church attendance is happening mainly with millennials and Generation X—those ranging in age from the late twenties to late fifties—with the biggest growth among married fathers with children under 18.

Much of this can probably be attributed to the number of ministries geared toward men, such as Promise Keepers, that have sprung up over the past few decades, as well as a greater awareness by church leaders that there was a “male problem” when it came to church attendance and spiritual leadership.

On the other hand, it is the steady increase of single mothers and single never married women that is leading the female decline. For those who are still single, the researchers cite these women feeling isolated in congregations that cater to nuclear families and thus unable to find community within the church.

A good friend of mine and his wife know several young women in their twenties-early thirties who feel they are no longer welcome in the church because they are single—not so much by choice—but because they have not found the right Godly man yet, or circumstances have left them as a single parent—whether it be through divorce, or in some cases, death.

Now, many of these issues these women are not of their making, thus it is still imperative that the church be able to meet their need for community and spiritual growth as well.

So, the question begs itself: How does the church continue to encourage men—particularly husbands and fathers—to continue returning to church, while also addressing the feeling of women who feel they are increasingly socially isolated in the church?

Citing the Apostle Paul again, he provides us with the road map, writing in 1 Corinthians 9:22: “To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some.”

So, while it is difficult, the church, as Paul writes, needs to find a way to be all things to all people—without compromising the truth —regardless of their station in life.

I, for one, am particularly glad to see men, along with the emphasis on families, coming back to church because it is a very positive development for future generations and our country. Let’s celebrate the return of men, and their spiritual leadership, and all the good that will bring. But let’s not leave our sisters behind, like we left men behind for decades, and paid a great spiritual and cultural price for our neglect. We need to learn from past mistakes, not repeat them.

Valuing everyone and making sure they have a spiritual community to call home is what will truly be a cultural and spiritual turning point for all people—men and women alike—that will bring about positive transformation for not just them, but for our society as well.

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